Tag Archives: video

Oh, hello there. It’s been quiet around here lately, hasn’t it. Sadly, my focus seems to be on videos now. Well, not sadly. I like doing videos, and the feedback I’ve been getting is great, but I am sad I don’t write as much anymore.

While it’s been quiet on the blog, I myself have not been quiet. In fact, I can’t seem to shut the hell up. I’ve been a guest on a number of podcasts lately, 3 of which are out for your listening pleasure.

First, I was on the Rocket Pants Podcast. I talked to Alex, Chris and Jon about what I’ve been playing, tried to answer some really tough trivia questions and we had a discussion about whether retro or modern gaming is superior.

I was also on The GameEnthus podcast, for the second time. I talked to Aaron, Mike, and Tiny about a ton of things. Deadpool, XCOM2, MAGfest, the X-Files, the list goes on.

Last, but not least, I was on the RF Generation Collectorcast. My boyfriend Will and I were both invited on to talk about the SegaCD with Duke Togo and WildBil. This was cool, as it was really the first time Will and I have collaborated on any content creation. Also, I got to talk about my love of FMV games.

I also recorded two other podcasts which should be coming out shortly. I’ll let you know when those are out.

Video-wise, I’ve put out a few things. A couple highlights are my top 5 games on the PS1. It was hard to not just pick 5 JRPGs.

Also, I also just put out a funny/sad video where I read a bunch of mean comments people have left on my channel. It seems to be pretty popular so far, because who can look away from a car crash?

Also, I’m working on a secret mystery thing, but that’s not ready to be revealed yet. (Oooh, mysterious)

That’s it for now. Hopefully the writing bug bites me again at some point.

The X-Files is coming back to television in less than a week! That means it’s time to review The X-Files Game on PlayStation 1. Check out the video if you want my thoughts on the game or want to learn some embarrassing stories about me from when I first started watching the show.

Ever since I started making YouTube videos I’ve been running into something I rarely encountered when I was just a blogger. People I don’t know are asking things of me. I get requests to collaborate on videos, to join networks, to post my videos on other people’s websites. It can get a bit overwhelming. I have a hard time responding to these requests. On the one hand many of the people asking seem sincere and enthusiastic about what they do, and I don’t want to be a jerk. On the other hand, a question that has to be asked is – What do I get out of this?

It’s very common in hobby-based content creation for outlets to only be able to “pay” you with exposure. Now, I certainly don’t write or make videos for money – based on the current balance in my AdSense account I should be set to receive my first ever cheque from Google sometime next year. After 6 years of writing here and 1 year of video making. I do it because I enjoy it, I answer only to myself, it lets me talk to people with similar interests, and because I like attention and people knowing my thoughts on things. However as soon as a third party comes in asking to use my work in some way, things change. If I’m asked to share my content elsewhere, do extra work, maybe commit to some schedule, then it turns into work. And honey, I don’t work for free.

What kind of collaborations and such I find reasonable will depend on what kind of effort is required from me, and what I get in return. As of now, the only request I’ve said yes to came from the folks at 1 More Castle (which has, sadly, shut down now). One of the site founders contacted me to see if I was interested in posting my videos on the site. I was really new to making videos and honestly I was just pumped that someone noticed me. So, after some back and forth on the details, I said yes. Luckily, I had only positive experiences with posting there. The requirements from me were minimal – I just made a post in WP to embed my video whenever I had a new one ready (along with some tags and a thumbnail and stuff) and let an editor know it was good to go. My videos stayed on my own channel and there was no schedule or rules to follow. I got a few more hits to my videos, the website readers hopefully had some new interesting content to peruse, and I made a bunch of nice new internet friends.

Currently I post my retro videos as user submissions on another retro gaming site. No one contacted me about this, I just thought it would give my channel more traffic. Again, the videos stay on my channel, I just email in a link and description for them whenever I make them. I get some views from this, but have not really felt any sense of community building. Low effort, low return.

When it comes to sites or people asking for original content with no compensation I have to ask – why would I do that? My bf let me know today that a gaming site was looking for staff writers to do a weekly column. It could be a good source of exposure so I checked out the posting and the application for it. Then I got to the fine print at the bottom, which quietly explained that they could offer no monetary compensation. Sigh. Exposure isn’t pay, and writers shouldn’t be asked to work for free.

Professional writers, especially in the video games industry have a hard time making a living wage. I’m not a professional writer. I’ve never made a pitch, I’ve never worked with an editor. I’ve been paid to write something a grand total of 1 time. However, because I think that writing and journalism should be careers that are viable for talented people, I’d never write for free for any site that collects revenue. The more people that create content for free, the more people think that this is the way it should be. That people don’t need to be compensated for their work. Why pay a writer when some schmuck with no business sense will do it for free?

I’ve sort of veered off topic (see? no editor). At least I resisted the urge to go into a tangent about game companies using fans as free Alpha/Beta testers. Oh wait, I guess I didn’t resist. Coming back around to the original topic… if you’re a content creator, how do you respond to requests for collaboration or for you to share your work elsewhere? My current tactic is to ignore anything I’m not really interested in, which is not the most mature response. I don’t want to be a jerk to people who are interested in my content but at the same time, there has to be something in it for me and I want to be sure I’m getting at least as much out of it as I put into it.